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A federal
judge in Anchorage
today (Monday) has ordered the distribution of the first round of payments from
the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill punitive damages case.

Judge H. Russel
Holland signed an order directing the administrators of the Exxon Valdez
settlement fund to start making payments. Between a third and a half of the
plaintiffs should be receiving checks soon after Thanksgiving.

Frank
Mullen is a fisherman and a financial planner in Homer, who has followed the
case closely:

The first
payments will go to the 13 claimant classes listed in Exhibit C, which appeared
in a dozen lists posted on the Anchorage Daily News' Highliner Blog a couple
weeks ago. They include Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound
and Kodiak salmon fishermen, along with two Native categories. Shellfish and
herring fishermen are not included in the first distribution. Mullen says some
people in the first pay out group might not see their names there, but they
shouldn't panic:

--(Frank Clean27 sec"They
most likely ... some other future list.")

Ott
speculates there should be several rounds of payouts before Christmas:

--Ott Waves19 sec"That's
just the first wave ... opening a floodgate.")

Because of
legislation passed this year, Mullen says plaintiffs have the ability to
protect much of their payout:

--(Frank Protect29 sec"Through
the efforts ... signed by the president.")

Fishermen
can put up to 100-thousand dollars in an IRA and defer the taxes, they can
income average their payments on their tax returns, and they do not have to pay
self-employment tax on the payouts.

In Judge
Holland's order, five percent of each payment will be held back in case Sea
Hawk Seafoods' appeal for a recalculation of the distribution is accepted by
the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Holland
rejected Sea Hawks' request to be given a larger slice of the pie earlier this
month.

The
payments will also be reduced by 22-point-4 percent for attorneys' fees. Fore
example, a plaintiff scheduled to receive 50-thousand dollars will get, after
the deduction and holdback, 36,860 dollars.